Reading Tutors for K-5 Students
Parent Q&A
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Reading tutor for 6 year old
March 2015
My son has been not progressing much with his reading. I know that he likes stories and loves books but he struggles with reading. He is in a private school and I don't think he is getting what he needs. I don't want to pressure him to read but I do want to see if there is someone who can help him. My son also seems to get frustrated and seems to forget the sounds or letters he is using---and then his frustration leads to a bad approach/attitude and a feeling that he can't do it. I want to find someone who can help teach him but also help give him/teach him tools for approaching learning so that he doesn't get frustrated but will embrace a challenge. I try to tell him that the important thing is to try hard. Sometimes we don't get it right but we learn and can do better the next time. And that's part of learning and part of the fun. He has also had problems learning math but we seem to be overcoming these a bit better.... I'm including this in the 'advice' to get thoughts on how to deal with this and also in 'recommendations' to see if I can get some names and numbers of people who can help. And my focus is not to pressure him but to help him feel empowered and teach him in a way that is effective for him. Thank you!!
Hi, I would highly recommend Ilyse Gordis for reading tutoring. She is really great at making kids feel good about themselves and at making reading fun.
Just a side note: our child struggled with reading for a few years, and after getting his vision checked a few times with an opthalmologist and being told he had 20/20 vision and was fine, we found out he had vision issues and needed vision therapy. After doing vision therapy for 6 months, he is back with Ilyse and on his way to reading. She groups words together so that we know which words to work on for the week.
Ilyse also has really fun book clubs where she creates a conversation about the stories in such a way that every child relates to the story on a deep, personal level. She is sure to help your child love literature. She can be reached at: Ilyse [at] inklingbookclub.com and she is in Berkeley. Mother to 9 yr old in Oakland, CA
Reading Tutor Needed for Second Grader
Feb 2015
I am looking for a tutor that utilizes a variety of methods including Linda Mood-Bell. Ideally the tutor would be in Berkeley.
I highly recommend, Shari Leskowitz. She works with children in Berkeley and Oakland. I'm not sure about your request for a particular method but I know she is wonderful about listening to the concerns of parents and children and would be open to thinking with you about any particular approach you think might be helpful for your child. Shari can be reached at 510-872-2369 or shari.leskowitz [at] gmail.com Kimberly
When my daughter was in second grade, we had the opportunity to work with an excellent reading tutor. Lise Narath has taught reading for many years-as a classroom teacher, reading coach, and as a private consultant. I met her when she was a reading coach at BUSD; so she knows how to navigate the public school system, which can be a real plus. Lise is well qualified to support students with dyslexia or those who learn differently. She is trained in both Orton-Gillingham (multisensory word work) and Lindamood Bell. But most importantly, both my daughter and I found her a delight to work with. She is extremely skilled in all aspects of learning to read, kind, patient, and fun. She really does love to teach reading! Lise Narath: (510-388-8803), website (www.lnreadingconnection.com) and email (lnreadingconnection [at] gmail.com) Lois
June 2014
I'd like to recommend Ilyse Gordis - an amazing reading/writing tutor. She has tutored 2 of my daughters, ages 6 and 10, with their reading. I was amazed with how much she was able to help them progress with their basic reading, reading comprehension and writing. She was great about recommending books they were interested in and they really enjoyed working with her. She also hosts book clubs for different age groups. ilyse [at] inklingbookclub.com or 510.524.4318 Tammy
Reading tutor for first grader
April 2014
My first grader is below grade level in both reading and math. Although she has yet to be tested, she might have some learning disabilities. She did learn to read while in Reading Recovery, but has not made much progress since leaving that one to one situation. We are weighing our options as to what to do outside the classroom. She gives us a lot of pushback when we try to help her at home so we are looking for some outside services. We could afford about $100 a week for either a tutor or a tutoring service like Kumon or Classroom Matters. Has anyone else gotten help for their young child? What has been the most helpful? Thanks. Concerned Mom
I would highly recommend that you contact Bonnie Mitchell, and see if one-on-one tutoring might be the answer. Bonnie is a retired (OUSD) teacher who inspired *many* little Crocker Highlands kids (1st & 2nd grade, primarily - at least, in the years we knew her) to love reading. She is patient, and LOVES kids! Give her a call, meet with her - your child may love her as much as mine did! 510.482-4716 Mom of some very happy kids who LOVE to read!!!!
Reading help for 1st grader
June 2011
My child is just finishing first grade. He is below grade level in reading and writing, had trouble holding a pencil, is starting to get that he is below other kids and it is starting to affect him in that way as well. His teachers have said that there is a gap between his verbal, math and social skills and his reading and writing skills. I would like to get him a tutor this summer or send him to some kind of program for extra help. I am looking at a few programs but don't know how good they are. Please if anyone has any experience with this please let me know (positive or negative). Thank you!!! Don't Know If I Should Be Concerned Mother
My daughter saw a private educational therapist in our home. His name is Bill Baldyga. We were thrilled with the progress our daughter made. In less than three months she jumped several grade levels in reading. All the experts say that the earlier you intervene, the easier it is to correct any issues that your child might have. You can contact Bill through his website at: www.halcyonlearning.com MW
I would recommend calling Dr. Ann Gordon of Educational Services Associates on Grand Avenue. She has a real gift with children, and many years of experience. 873-0801 anon.
June 2011
Hello, my family has worked with a tutor named Rachael Berger for a year. She is an English teacher and also provides private in-home tutoring. She has been a ton of helping our kindergartener with reading; support with phonics and lots of word sorts. She is patient and kind and my daughter loves her! Her number is 510-418-6495. I know she works with kids of all ages. Madeleine
June 2011
I would like to recommend my 9 year old son's tutor. She works with him in reading and writing, phonics and comprehension sentence writing, punctuation, grammer, and penmanship. My son is reluctant to work with me but is so willing to work with her. She is patient and kind with him. She uses positive reinforcement. And is really encouraging to him when he is having a hard time. We have been working with her through the school year and are very excited about his progress. Her name is Lauren Bassard. lbassard [at] aol.com 510-921-4911
Holly
Tutor for 3rd grader reading below grade level
April 2011
I have a 3rd grader who is reading below grade level and is behind in writing skills. I am looking for an experienced Ed. Therapist / tutor ASAP who is patient, creative, and has excellent credentials and who is effective! I live in Berkeley and would like to find someone local. Susan
My third grade son has been working with a tutor here in Berkeley twice a week for the last year and half. He was working on writing and reading skills with Peggy Connell and has made tremendous progress. She has been extremely flexible, used her great sense of humor to keep him motivated and always used his interests as a vehicle to teach varing content. When starting with her, he was extremely reluctant to even write a paragraph, and has since then developed the skills to organize and carry-out short assignments independently. Part of his issue is his lack of organizational skills surrounding writing which were greatly helped through her use of graphic organizers and brainstorming. She always provided a warm and nurturing environment, which helped keep distractions to a minimum. She holds a masters degree in special education and educational therapy. You can contact her at (510) 644- 1010 or peggyjconnell [at] yahoo.com mom who has been there
Reading program for 4 year old
April 2011
I am looking for a Saturday reading program for my 4 year old. Does anyone know of one that is located in Oakland or Berkeley? Thanks.
My son attended the Cal State East Bay's fall 2010 reading program and loved it! He not only learned a great deal, but he had fun doing so and made some friends in the process. He learned how to read shortly after completing the reading program! The teacher is great at engaging the students and truly understands literacy development for 4 and 5 year olds. I highly recommend this program. I dont recall the exact name of the program, but it is also being offered during the summer. Good luck! Happy Mommy
Reading tutor for 2nd grader
Dec 24 2009
I would like to highly recommend Sharon Lawless for tutoring reading. Our daughter was struggling to learn the basics of reading after kindergarten and we hired Sharon to tutor her over the summer between kindergarten and first grade. Sharon was amazing with her! She was very encouraging and we credit her with teaching our daughter not only to read, but also to enjoy it and she is now thriving. Her reading words per minute have continued to climb and she is now one of the best readers in her 2nd grade class.
Sharon can be reached at slawless18 [at] gmail.com or 510-336-1201.
Here is more information on Sharon: She works mainly with students who have reading challenges. She uses The Susan Barton Reading and Spelling System which is a research-based program that teaches students phonemic awareness in a sequential manner. She can help students with the writing process and elementary math. She has 30 years of teaching experience, Robin
Literacy tutor to get son to grade level
March 2009
Can anyone recommend a gentle, patient, intuitive literacy tutor? My son is having some trouble keeping up with his grade-level reading and seems to get frustrated easily. I'm really hoping to find somebody to work with him one on one (hourly maybe?), and I don't want to use any of those big ''tutoring companies''. Also, what type of fee should I expect to pay for such services? Thanks so much for any info-- regina
You could try Ariel Lenchner. Her office is near Broadway and Piedmont in Oakland. She worked with my son one on one, did a lot of fun games with him, and helped him quite a bit. He really liked her, and now reads extremely well. She's very patient with young children. I believe we spent about $65 an hour with her, a couple of years ago. Her website is http://www.earlyliteracywizard.com/ Karen
You should call Lyra King at 510-706-3041. She helped my daughter immensely. Lyra is a talented and compassionate tutor. She charges $60/hour and it is well worth it. Best of luck! Kelly
Our family has been blessed to find Jamie Keller to work with our son. He needed a great deal of help with his literacy issues. She is patient, caring, intuitive and most importantly, my son loves working with her. check out her site at www.learnWithMe.com and you will see just how qualified she is (and creative too!) My son is doing great and we are now working with Jamie on study skills to prepare him for middle school. She has a great summer program that I highly recommend. You can email her directly at jamiekeller1 [at] gmail.com michelle
I think Ivy Sandz / Literacy Access is just who and what you are looking for. http://www.literacyaccess.com/references.html I cannot say enough wonderful things about Ivy. My daughter has been seeing her for many years, doing individual sessions, group writers' workshops, homeschool support, art journaling, altered books. Ivy develops rapport easily with students, and is very versatile in using all kinds of techniques to help with reading and writing. She works well with kids of all ages and kinds of learning styles too.
I know someone who has worked with a student at Carl B. Munck for just about a year taking most of the summer off. The student is now caught up and thriving. The sessions were about 45 minutes each, reasonable price. Great bond between student and tutor which helped make the difference. Call Arlene Pimentel at 409-3829 or email arlenepim [at] aol.com Happy Reader
Speech, development, reading therapist for 5 year old
Feb 2009
Hello dear parents, Do you have any referrals for a speech therapist and a reading tutor who would work with a five year old pre-kindergarten boy in our home in El Cerrito? A student speech therapist or a developmental student teacher would be fine too. Thank you very much !
I highly recommed Bill Baldyga of Halcyon Learning as a reading specialist. My kid loves him, and now he reads! He comes to your house too. His website is halcyonlearning.com and his phone number is on the site. Been There
Extra reading help for kindergartener
Feb 2008
As a mother of a kindergarten boy who is not yet reading - just why did the state change to this model 5 years ago? I'm wondering what kind of extra help is available through the schools for boys who don't pick it up by memorizing. We are in Oakland Unified School District. Independent recommendations of outside tutors also welcome, thanks. -concerned mom
I learned w/a bit of shock this fall that kindergarteners are supposed to learn to read. So now I'm looking for a tutor with experience with kindergarteners. nc
You might consider enrolling him in a summer program. My son attended one taught by a reading specialist named Ariel Lenchner last summer and it helped him quite a bit. You can find out about her on her website at http://earlyliteracywizard.com/contact.html And I'm sure there are other such programs out there. Karen
I recognize that this is not the advice you asked for so feel free to ignore it but it seems a bit early to jump to a reading tutor. I have a 6-year-old first grader who also loves being read to. He is in the very early stages of learning to read, and can sound out single-syllable words (most but not all of the time) but would certainly tell me he can’t read if I asked him to read something himself. Both his kinder teacher last year and his brand new first grade teacher say he’s perfectly on track for his grade level. Maybe just let your 6yo move at the pace she’s at? There’s nothing worse than kids resenting/hating reading which can happen if forced too early. Good luck.
It might be worth having her get a full vision exam at the UC eye clinic. Our child wasn't reading as well as we expected from their other literacy skills, and it turned out to be a binocular vision problem. There turned out to be another visual/motor LD as well. Once the binocular vision was corrected, reading (and copying from the board) was fine, and they became a devoted reader.
We have had a great experience with Lise Narath (also found on BPN) this spring and summer, she did magic in turning my 6 y.o. reading resistance around. She is based in Albany.
https://www.lnreadingconnection.com/about-me/
As the parent of a dyslexic kid who loved to be read to as well, I'd encourage some testing before you head to a tutor. Ours had a 1st grade teacher who told us our kid was just fine, but even at 6 we suspected something was up. We wasted a year by listening to her. A qualified Educational Therapist (not a tutor) can do an assessment for you, and if it is just reluctance, can still help you. Good luck!
Before going the tutor route, you might consider asking her teachers if they're noticing anything at school. It could be nothing; it could be a vision issue; it could also be dyslexia. Educators are generally pretty hesitant to raise the possibility of dyslexia because of how parents sometimes react early on, but if you ask a teacher and convey your openness to the possibility, you might be surprised what you learn. If anyone thinks there's a possibility it's dyslexia, have your child tested. It's not hard, and if they do have dyslexia, dealing with that early makes a HUGE difference in a kid's academic experience. We were in that spot 4 years ago, and getting our 6-year old daughter early help was transformative. She now reads above grade level and is thriving.
If you do need a skilled reading/writing specialist, I'd HIGHLY recommend Cindy Miner Kapelke. She's fantastic.